Arson in America: Serial Arsonist Exposed

Convicted for-profit serial arsonist Kenneth Allen of Muncie, Ind., admits to setting at least 14 fires as part of a statewide conspiracy that collected $3.8 million in insurance payouts from 73 home and vehicles. “Man, I was a monster,” Allen said. “People were trying to get out from under mortgages. Word just got out: ‘Talk to Kenny.’ It was all greed.”

Scripps News Photo/Jason Ronimous

Convicted for-profit serial arsonist Kenneth Allen of Muncie, Ind., admits to setting at least 14 fires as part of a statewide conspiracy that collected $3.8 million in insurance payouts from 73 home and vehicles. “Man, I was a monster,” Allen said. “People were trying to get out from under mortgages. Word just got out: ‘Talk to Kenny.’ It was all greed.”

Scripps News Photo/Jason Ronimous

The Muncie Fire Department failed to notice it made five trips to the home of convicted serial arsonist Kenneth Allen, of Muncie, Ind., over an eight-year period. Allen was part of a conspiracy that collected more than $3.8 million for 73 home and vehicle fires, none of which were detected as arson by Indiana fire authorities.

Scripps News Photo/Jason Ronimous

Insurance investigator Princess Spencer was the first to notice how unlucky was Kenneth Allen’s home in Muncie, Ind., which experienced five fires in eight years. As she probed deeper, she quickly detected more than 20 fires involving members of Allen’s family. “That’s when I called Muncie officials and told them: ‘You guys have a problem up here,” Spencer said.

Scripps News Photo/Jason Ronimous

“I don’t think that we, as a group, have a grasp of the magnitude if it,” Muncie, Ind., fire investigator Robert M. Mead said of the Allen arson conspiracy. “Could it happen again? Sure it could. But I don’t want it to happen on my watch.”